We Need You to Help maintain ASE’s two seats in the House of Delegates

ASE works hard to ensure your voice is heard on issues related to legislative matters, regulatory issues, coding and reimbursement. To do so, ASE must maintain the Society’s seats in the American Medical Association (AMA) House of Delegates (HOD). To qualify, 25% of ASE’s U.S. physician members must also be members of the AMA. Currently, we are just over halfway to that goal.

One way to help us reach our goal is to encourage the Residents and Fellows who are ASE members in your lab to join the AMA. The AMA membership rate for that category is only $45. Physicians could also “gift” AMA membership to their Residents or Fellows.

The AMA provides a powerful voice in Congress, the courts, and federal agencies. Full delegate status provides ASE with a vote on important AMA policy within the HOD. ASE delegates take part in the HOD meeting where AMA’s HOD sets its legislative and regulatory priorities based on the issues that were recently considered by the HOD, and these are vast.

It is imperative that ASE maintain our seats. Learn more and see how you can join the AMA at ASEcho.org/AMA.

Bijoy K. Khandheria May 11, 1956 – February 13, 2023

Bijoy K. Khandheria, ASE’s 16^th President, served as the Medical Director of Aurora Global & Executive Health Program Services since 2010, Medical Director of the Echocardiography Center for Research & Innovation since 2012, and Medical Director of Echocardiography Services at Aurora St. Luke’s Medical Center since 2013. He was also Clinical Adjunct Professor of Medicine, at the University of Wisconsin, School of Medicine, Milwaukee since 2011. Before moving to Milwaukee and Aurora St. Luke’s Medical Center, he served in many noteworthy positions at Mayo Clinic in Scottsdale, Arizona and Rochester, Minnesota.

Dr. Khandheria received his MS in Pre-Medicine and his MBBS/MD from Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda, India. He completed residencies in internal medicine at Shree Sayaji General Hospital in Vadodara, India, Drexel University College of Medicine/Hahnemann University Hospital, and Saint Agnes Medical Center of Philadelphia. Dr. Khandheria then completed a fellowship in the Division of Cardiovascular Diseases & Internal Medicine at Mayo Clinic Rochester.

Dr. Khandheria was the Principal Investigator or Co-Investigator on numerous industry- and federal-funded, multi-year research projects that led to numerous publications of findings. He was named on two U.S. Patents for “Method for assessing vascular disease by quantitatively measuring vaso vasorum” and “Method for imaging intracavitary blood flow patterns.” In addition, he authored or co-authored over 350 publications. He edited seven books on echocardiography and was a lead author on all three editions of ASE’s Comprehensive Echocardiography textbook. Dr. Khandheria served as Senior Consulting Editor and a trusted guest editor for the Journal of American Society of Echocardiography, Associate Editor for the European Heart Journal CV Imaging, and also formerly held roles with the Journal of Echocardiography, JACC CV Imaging, JACC, and was a reviewer at numerous online and print medical journals.

In addition to serving ASE as President from 2005 to 2006, Dr. Khandheria served on many Society committees and task forces throughout his esteemed career. He helped establish ASE’s educational course portfolio and was the co-director of ASE’s State-of-the-Art Echocardiography course from 1995 through 2020. He served as the program chair of the ASE 2001 Scientific Sessions in Seattle, Washington. In 2006, he delivered the 17^th Annual Edler Lecture titled “Back to the Future.” He helped lead the charge along with Dr. Randy Martin to rebrand ASE with a new logo and new tagline “Society of Cardiovascular Ultrasound” and expand ASE’s visibility on the world stage. As ASE’s first Indian (nationality) President, Dr. Khandheria helped ASE establish ties with India that are still in place today, assisting Indian healthcare professionals to become one of the largest contingents of non-U.S, ASE members. He also served on the Board of Directors of the Committee on Accreditation for Advanced Cardiovascular Sonography (CoA-ACS) and was a tremendous advocate for sonographers and always championed their roles in the organization and in research and teaching.

Dr. Khandheria was a dedicated advocate for the field of cardiovascular ultrasound and his commitment to education was unwavering. He had a deep insight into the educational needs of sonographers and physicians and an exceptional ability to tailor his knowledge and presentations to meet the needs of the audience. He was a world-renowned clinician and sought-after speaker and educator throughout his career as a cardiologist. He was a visionary in the field with an enthusiasm, generosity, and kindness that touched many lives. He will be deeply missed by everyone who had the pleasure of interacting with him and learning from him.

ASE is currently seeking Course Co-Directors to serve from 2024 through 2025. All ASE members with course expertise are encouraged to read the qualifications and apply.

This application process is for these ASE courses:

• Echo Hawaii (January)
• State-of-the-Art Echocardiography (February)
• Review Course (Late April-Early May)
• Advanced Imaging Techniques Virtual Experience (September)
• Echo Florida (Late October-Early November)

Course Directors and Co-Directors are instrumental to the implementation and success of live courses. Co-Directors will work directly with the Course Director and will have the opportunity to become the Course Director after two years, and in this role, could serve for an additional two years.

Applications submitted will be reviewed by the ASE Education Committee. Recommendations will be made to the ASE Executive Committee who will make the final selection.

All applications must be submitted by March 15, 2023. Final selections will be announced by April 30, 2023.

Questions? Please email ASE’s Vice President of Educational Activities, Christina LaFuria.

Only one week remains to submit your abstract of original science or clinical cases for the ASE 2023 Scientific Sessions in National Harbor, Maryland, June 23-26, 2023. The deadline is next week on Wednesday, February 15, 2023, 11:59 PM ET. Begin your submission online today! 

Did you know that ASE holds two investigator award competitions for abstracts during the Scientific Sessions?

• 2023 Arthur E. Weyman Young Investigator’s Award Competition – Open to young investigators under the age of 40, who are no more than five years from the end of their training.
• 2023 Brian Haluska Sonographer Research Award Competition – Open to sonographer (non-physician) investigators who served as the primary investigator on their project.

Finalists in both competitions will present their research during special sessions, will be listed in the final program, and be featured during the President’s Reception poster session. The winners of each competition receive special recognition and prizes.

Visit the ASE 2023 Call for Science to learn more about abstract submission details and benefits of abstract acceptance.

Chance to Win a $100 VISA Gift Card

In addition to supporting ASE’s mission of improving the practice of cardiovascular ultrasound for better patient outcomes, the ASE Trends Survey enables you to share your input on important issues about the ever-changing healthcare environment in the field of cardiovascular ultrasound. ASE values your input!

The survey covers topics including practice management, general equipment and workflow issues, specialized areas of practice, and new and emerging technologies and applications. The survey will be open until February 28. Please provide your name and email at the end of the survey to be entered into a drawing for the chance to win one of two $100 VISA gift cards.

We encourage you to share the survey link with other professionals in the echo community and post it on any non-ASE medical forums. The more who participate in the survey, the better—but remember—only ASE members receive the results! 

The February JASE includes, “Echocardiography Provides a Reliable Estimate of Total Cardiac Volume for Pediatric Heart Transplantation,” from Dr. Nicholas A. Szugye et al. Dr. Szugye said that, “Pediatric patients awaiting heart transplant face high mortality rates and donor organ utilization is suboptimal. Size matching donor and recipient using echocardiographic total cardiac volume is a scalable and precise method that can enable more heart transplants in a vulnerable population.”

Dr. Patricia A. Pellikka, JASE Editor-in-Chief, writes in her editorial, “The Left Atrium Makes Headlines,” that “the associations of LA enlargement with chronic diastolic dysfunction and increased mortality in various cardiac conditions have long been recognized. However, the LA’s active and complex relationship with total cardiac performance has only more recently become appreciated. This issue of JASE includes four important papers on LA remodeling and mechanics.”

In addition, other clinical investigations explore risk stratification by echo in pulmonary hypertension, hypertrophic cardiomyopathy and strain, ultrasound enhancing agents in sickle cell disease, carotid plaque imaging and coronary artery disease, and pediatric and fetal echocardiography. A state-of-the-art review, which is the CME article for February from Dr. Jia Tao et al., looks at the role of the submitral apparatus in hypertrophic obstructive cardiomyopathy. An invited commentary with lead author Dr. Vincent L. Sorrell addresses “Recognized and Unrecognized Value of Echocardiography in Guideline and Consensus Documents Regarding Patients With Chest Pain.” Several Brief Research Communications round out the issue.

The President’s Message, “The ASEF: Together, We Can Make a World of Difference,” from Stephen H. Little, MD, FASE, is co-authored with James N. Kirkpatrick, MD, FASE, the current chair of the ASE Foundation (ASEF). The authors note that the title encapsulates the mission of the ASEF, which aims to be the driving force for improving health for all through the use of cardiovascular ultrasound. The continuing education and meeting calendar outlines a multitude of learning options near and far.

Cardiac point-of-care ultrasound has the potential to improve patient care, but its application to children requires consideration of anatomic and physiologic differences from adult populations, and corresponding technical aspects of performance. This new guideline, Recommendations for Cardiac Point-of-Care Ultrasound in Children, is the product of an American Society of Echocardiography task force composed of representatives from pediatric cardiology, pediatric critical care medicine, pediatric emergency medicine, pediatric anesthesiology, and others, assembled to provide expert guidance.

This diverse group aimed to identify common considerations across disciplines to guide evolution of indications, and to identify common requirements and infrastructure necessary for optimal performance, training, and quality assurance in the practice of cardiac point-of-care ultrasound in children. The recommendations presented are intended to facilitate collaboration among subspecialties and with pediatric echocardiography laboratories by identifying key considerations regarding (1) indications, (2) imaging recommendations, (3) training and competency assessment, and (4) quality assurance. Read more here.